Childhood and adolescence disorders The side effect profiles and efficacy of aripiprazole in patients with autism spectrum disorder

Objective: Approximately 20% of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) display from moderate to severe levels of aggression, anger outbursts and self-injurious behavior. Evidence from randomized controlled trials suggests that aripiprazole can be effective in treating irritability and other disruptive behaviors in children with ASD. In this study we evaluated 12 of patients following-up in our clinic with a diagnosis of ASD and using aripiprazole in terms of efficacy and side-effect profile.

Method: The files of 12 of patients who were diagnosed with ASD and using aripiprazole were analyzed retrospectively. The Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S) was used to evaluate the level of illness before the aripiprazole treatment and after changes in terms of the aggression, anger outbursts, and self-injurious behavior in the clinical observation.

Results: The patients were between the ages of 5 to 17-year-olds, whom of 10 boys and 2 girls. Mean treatment period was 14.1 months (7-26 months) and the average used aripiprazole dose was 7.2 mg/day (4-15mg/day). The mean CGI severity of the disease before treatment was 6 (severely ill), and the mean CGI improvement scale after treatment was 2 (quite improved). Alongside with the drug therapy all patients were getting special education at the same time. Weight gain was appeared in 2 of 12 (16.6%) patients, and the tremor appeared in 1 (8.3%). But these side effects weren’t at the level to cause discontinuation of treatment; furthermore they didn’t effect the functionality of patients significantly.

Conclusion: The studies about the pharmacologic treatment of ASD reveal that atypical antipsychotics can be effective in treating irritability, aggression, and self-injurious behavior. In our sample, there was significant difference between the level of disease in terms of the average duration of treatment with aripiprazole, and CGI scores, aggression, irritability, and self-mutilating behavior. Limitation of our study is that the data obtained cannot be generalized because of the limited sample of the patients. Studies with larger samples and broader spectrum might contribute to this field.